A number of technologies have been developed to provide businesses and consumers with the ability to transmit or deposit checks and other documents electronically via desktop and mobile devices. These technologies allow users to transmit instruments such as a check by sending an image from a device such as a scanner, cell phone, tablet device, or digital camera, in a matter of minutes. Users can snap a picture of a document such as a check using the camera in such devices and then transmit the document image for further processing, such as submission for deposit into an account. These technologies can save money for institutions by reducing item processing costs and labor expense, and can provide substantial convenience for businesses and individuals.
The issues that must be addressed by these technologies include capturing an accurate image of the document, effectively and efficiently communicating with the user regarding the adequacy of that image, and verifying the accuracy of the data capture from the image. Problems in reading the document may arise from finding the document within the photograph; accounting for uneven lighting conditions; addressing skewed, warped, or keystoned photographs; identifying the size and scale of the document; and using optical character recognition (“OCR”) technology to read the document. Other technologies employ various tools to attempt to address these problems. These typically involve taking a photograph of the financial instrument, transmitting the photograph to a distant server, allowing the server software to evaluate the image, and, if the image is found inadequate, communicating the failure back to the user, who must then make appropriate adjustments and try again.